Fleeing Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali arrived to Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia, after he left his country following popular demonstrations that lasted for more than three weeks.

A statement issued by the Saudi Royal Court expressed the hope that security and stability will prevail in Tunisia. Saudi Arabia has also expressed its support for all the "actions that benefit the people of Tunisia."

Meanwhile, calls have been made in Tunisia for the formation of popular committees for civil defense to confront the looting amid the chaos and lawlessness that engulfed the country after the overthrow of the president. Calls by Tunisian people to the army to intervene and to protect them from gangs of masked perpetrators have not been met. At the heart of the Tunisian capital, many citizens expressed their fears regarding movements of masked men.

For his part, the Prime Minister and acting president of Tunisia Mohamed Ghannouchi stated that he gave instructions to the army to protect citizens, saying: "I contacted leaders of the army and asked them to speed up the interference and cooperation with citizens to end the chaos and to eliminate gangs masked men who are involved in looting."